Hospitals and medical clinics use great quantities of sharps, such as needles, syringes, surgical blades, and the like, that are disposed of rather than cleaned and reused. It is necessary that the sharps be disposed of in a manner that prevents them being reused without sterilization. In particular, it is necessary to keep them from falling into the hands of those, such as intravenous drug users and the like, who are likely to use them without proper sterilization.
Numerous containers have been developed in recent years, which are reasonably secure and disposable for receiving and disposing of hospital sharps, wastes and the like. Many of these disposable containers, however, are outdated and do not provide adequate security against pilfering of used syringes and the like therefrom. While improved containers have been developed which cannot readily be reopened and articles cannot be easily removed therefrom, such containers must be kept in a secure place or securely mounted to non-removable structure to prevent unauthorized removal. The disposable container and its mounting bracket must not only be secure, it must be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and it must be simple and easy to use and to mount and remove the container.
Reasonably secure mounting brackets have been developed and widely used in the past to prevent unauthorized removal of the containers. However, recently developed improved containers also have new and improved mounting brackets which are easier to use and are more secure. These older brackets are typically mounted on walls or similar surfaces and are securely anchored by lag bolts and the like. The removal of the old bracket and the installation of a new bracket requires the services of skilled workman with special tools, with which the hospitals and clinics do not wish to bother. This frequently results in resistance by hospitals and clinics to new and improved disposable containers that may require a different bracket.
An example of a prior art container and mounting bracket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,860 of Bemis dated Apr. 12, 1988. This patent discloses a sharps container having a door that provides limited access to the interior of the container, and having a mounting bracket adapted to be mounted to a wall with inter-engaging projections and slots on the bracket and container for securing the container to the bracket. A special tool is required to disengage the container from the bracket.
It is, therefore, desirable that an improved securable disposable container and bracket assembly be available which does not require removal of the old bracket.